POLITICIAN

Irene of Athens

752 - 803

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Irene of Athens (Greek: Εἰρήνη, Eirḗnē; 750/756 – 9 August 803), surname Sarantapechaena (Greek: Σαρανταπήχαινα, Sarantapḗchaina), was Byzantine empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from 780 until 790, co-ruler from 792 until 797, and finally empress regnant and sole ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire from 797 to 802. A member of the politically prominent Sarantapechos family, she was selected as Leo IV's bride for unknown reasons in 768. Even though her husband was an iconoclast, she harbored iconophile sympathies. During her rule as regent, she called the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which condemned iconoclasm as heretical and brought an end to the first iconoclast period (730–787). Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Irene of Athens is the 643rd most popular politician (down from 581st in 2019), the 55th most popular biography from Greece (up from 61st in 2019) and the 15th most popular Greek Politician.

Irene of Athens is most famous for being the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine V, and for her involvement in the iconoclastic controversy.

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Among POLITICIANS

Among politicians, Irene of Athens ranks 643 out of 19,576. Before her are Herbert Hoover, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Louis X of France, Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover, Ivar the Boneless, and Maria Carolina of Austria. After her are Turhan Hatice Sultan, Franz von Papen, Valerian, Imre Nagy, Robert Schuman, and Faisal I of Iraq.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 752, Irene of Athens ranks 1.  Among people deceased in 803, Irene of Athens ranks 1. After her are Jaʻfar ibn Yahya, Kardam of Bulgaria, and Anselm, Duke of Friuli.

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In Greece

Among people born in Greece, Irene of Athens ranks 55 out of 1,024. Before her are Pindar (-517), Queen Sofía of Spain (1938), Apollodorus of Athens (-180), Menander (-342), Antisthenes (-445), and Praxiteles (-395). After her are Seleucus I Nicator (-358), Vangelis (1943), Polybius (-208), Xanthippe (-500), Constantine II of Greece (1940), and Pope Eleutherius (171).

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Among POLITICIANS In Greece

Among politicians born in Greece, Irene of Athens ranks 15. Before her are Cleisthenes (-565), Lycurgus of Sparta (-800), Leonidas I (-540), Peisistratos (-600), Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha (1493), and Alcibiades (-450). After her are Xanthippe (-500), Constantine II of Greece (1940), Ptolemy II Philadelphus (-308), Ptolemy III Euergetes (-284), Epaminondas (-418), and Constantine I of Greece (1868).

Greek born Politicians

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